“Even if it wouldn’t have been my grandson, he’s somebody’s child, somebody’s brother, nephew,” she said.

Since he was born without a soft spot on his head, Gerald has had multiple skull expansion surgeries. The most recent was two years ago, his grandmother said. He has also experienced developmental delays.

“He has to have a teacher sit with him,” Lara, 51, said. “He’s much slower than all the other kids in his class.”

“You’re different because that’s what makes you special,” she added.

Gerald’s birthday was March 20, but he held his celebration party on April 2.

“Three o’clock came, nobody showed,” Amelia said. “Four o’clock came, nobody showed. Five o’clock came and his mom said, ‘Maybe we should cut the cake.’ Gerald said, ‘Can we wait? Maybe one of my friends would come.’ He was still very optimistic.”

Gina, Gerald’s mom, called family to come over after realizing that none of the children would be attending the party, Lara said.

“His spirit was broken,” she added. “It’s just wrong.”

Two days after the party, Lara vented about the incident in a Facebook post.

It read, in part:

“When my daughter called the 12 parents to find out what was going on. Here is their response. ‘My child can’t play with yours he is just too different.’ How sad he is 9 he just wants to have friends. So no one came, no cards, no presents. So, it is my mission to have as many cards as I can mailed to my little guy. You can send them to me and I’ll make sure he gets them….this breaks my heart.”

Since April 4, Lara’s Facebook post has received over 3,400 shares and Gerald has received over 1,000 birthday cards and gifts from people all over the world, she said.

“I want my grandson to have a friend and I want him to get cards,” Amelia said. “It has gone crazy,”

“We talked about it [with Gerald],” she added. “It’s going to come to an end, but this just shows you that there are good, kind, compassionate people our there who care and who want you to have a good birthday.”